Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to electrical connector assemblies, and, more particularly, to electrical connector assemblies having contact shields with integral securing members.
Right angle connectors have been used to connect printed circuit boards. A typical right angle connector may include a plurality of receiving terminals oriented at a right angle to a number of a plurality of pins.
USCAR30 is a standard for Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors for use in automotive applications. A known USCAR30 right angle (ninety degree) header PCB connector includes a housing that retains a contact shield. The shield is configured to retain and shield electrical contacts having terminals that connect to pins at right angles. Typically, separate and distinct solder nails that are used to connect the housing to the PCB are configured to be retained within reciprocal openings formed in a PCB. Moreover, the solder nails are typically separate and distinct loose pieces, which may be misplaced or mis-positioned, that are manufactured and packaged separately.
The housings of a known ninety degree connector include ganging structures that allow each housing to be secured to another housing. As such, the housings may provide a modular assembly. Notably, the ganging structures are typically perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the housing. It has been found that the ganging structures on the housing require specialized tools to form. For example, specialized side-action tooling is typically required to separately form the ganging structures.
As can be appreciated, the process of forming the shield and the housing of a typical ninety degree connector may be time and labor intensive, thereby increasing the cost of production for each connector. The shield and separate solder nails are typically separately affixed to the housing. Further, the housing that is configured to receive the shield is typically formed using complicated tooling in order to form ganging features. As can be appreciated, the process of forming a typical housing of a USCAR30 connector with ganging features requires complex tooling, thereby increasing the cost of production for each connector. Additionally the use of separate solder nails increases the cost of the finished connector in that additional components are used.